


Stress Relief

by yourebrilliant



Series: Under Pressure [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bossy, Broody, Compliancy: GoF, Crack Fic, F/M, Feisty, Fluff, Friendship, Humour, Muggle Life, Order Member, Redeemed, Roommates/Housemates, War, snarky, trapped together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-28
Updated: 2012-12-28
Packaged: 2017-11-22 18:57:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/613143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourebrilliant/pseuds/yourebrilliant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco is stressed, Hermione has the solution.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stress Relief

Striding angrily into the tiny room permitted him in this dirty hovel, Draco felt a short-lived rush of satisfaction at the resounding slam of the door behind him. Almost immediately, however, the feeling was overwhelmed by the anger that had driven him from the main room at Grimmauld Place. Honestly, he’d been cowering in this overcrowded dump for more than a month, surely Potter and his pet Weasley should have tired of baiting him by now.

Not for the first time, he wondered what had possessed him to accept Dumbledore’s offer. Even if he hadn’t killed the headmaster, the repercussions of his failed attempts weighed on him and the endless animosity directed at him by Potter and Weasley sorely strained his affected indifference.

Another flash of anger flared up in him and, before he could stop himself, he had drawn his wand and begun to curse the few items in the room.

‘ _Diffindo! Deprimo! Expulso!_ ’

Again and again he brandished his wand, feeling that rush of satisfaction again as dust and debris filled the air.

‘Draco?’

He barely registered the words, spinning to blast blindly at the source before he realised who it was.

‘ _CONFRINGO!_ ’ he screamed, before being forced to fling himself to one side as the spell rebounded off a Shield Charm and headed back for him. There was a shuddering crash as the bed exploded with the force of the spell, then the rush of air from the blast extinguished the lamp above it and everything was dark and still, the only sound was the harsh gasp of his heavy breathing as he recovered from the shock.

After a moment the tiny glow of wand light appeared and that same voice whispered, ‘Draco?’

‘Granger?’ he gasped, astonished. The dust in the air caught in his throat and suddenly he was coughing uncontrollably.

‘ _Aguamenti_ ,’ Granger murmured, and the light moved closer as she picked her way through the wreckage to hand him a glass of water. ‘Don’t try to talk,’ she cautioned. ‘Just drink the water.’

As he sipped at the water and tried to stop coughing, Granger moved away, the faint glow from her wand the only sign of her continued presence. After a moment there was a grinding sound from various points in the room and his bedside lamp flickered into life. Leaning on his magically repaired bed frame, Draco dragged himself to his feet.

Confused and wary, he stared at Hermione, trying to figure out why she was helping him. If she thought he would be one of her charity cases he’d blast her right out his room. ‘Shield Charm?’ he finally asked.

She shrugged, tucking her wand back into her pocket. ‘In the mood you were in, it seemed prudent.’

There was no answer to that. ‘Why?’ he muttered, gesturing around his room.  
Hermione rubbed the tip of her nose, looking awkward. ‘Our choices define us,’ she said quietly. ‘Listen,’ she said, suddenly brisk, ‘next time the boys annoy you, come to me. I have a _much_ better way to relieve stress than blasting your stuff.’

Both his pale eyebrows shot upward. ‘Listen, Granger-’ He frowned as she burst out laughing.

‘Your face!’ she gasped. ‘No, idiot, not that.’ Still laughing, she turned and left, shooting him amused glances on the way out the door.

 

Whether she had spoken to her boys or they were simply growing tired of their game, he didn’t see much of them in the next few days, and when he did, they restrained themselves to muttered insults rather than full on warfare. It was a relief not to be under constant attack but, in a way, Draco was disappointed. He _really_ wanted to know what Granger had had in mind.

 

A week later he found out. Potter had just been told for the millionth time that he _would not_ be allowed to go on missions for the Order and he was heartily pissed off. When he stormed out of the meeting, he was looking for someone to blame and there was Draco, just sitting there.

His rant went on for some time and Draco could feel the anger and resentment filling up in him. Eventually, when he was on the verge of hexing the Saviour of the Wizarding World and destroying all their chances, he closed his book, stood up and walked away. Once in the hallway, he dropped his indifferent swagger and strode angrily upstairs.

He could hear Granger jump as he pounded on her door and there was pause, during which - he imagined - she cast a Shield Charm, before she opened the door.

‘Let’s see it, then,’ he said, curtly, ‘your “much better way”.’

She looked at him pointedly for a moment. ‘Did I shout at you?’ she asked sharply. ‘Insult you?’

He frowned. ‘No,’ he muttered, confused.

‘Am I being nice to you?’ she continued.

‘So far,’ he conceded. Her eyebrow twitched but she refrained from comment.

‘Then be nice to _me_ or I won’t tell you a single thing.’

Draco took a deep breath and clenched his jaw together to hold back the anger. ‘Granger,’ he gritted out, after a moment, ‘would you show me your “better way”?’

‘Please,’ she prompted.

‘Please,’ he ground out, adding, ‘This had better be worth it.’

‘It is. Come on, then,’ she said, opening the door wider and murmuring _Finite Incantatum_ to cancel her Shield Charm.

Suspiciously, Draco followed her into the neat and orderly room she shared with Weasley’s sister. Once he was inside, she closed the door and crossed the room to climb up on her bed.

‘Granger,’ he began, wondering if he had, in fact, been correct when he thought she was suggesting they sleep together.

‘Calm down,’ she muttered. ‘I just need to open the window.’

‘Why?’ he asked, watching as she cast a _Silencio_ on the window frame before shoving the lower half upwards.

‘Because,’ she said, looking at him over her shoulder, ‘we’re sneaking out.’

 

‘Okay,’ Hermione said, stopping abruptly and turning down a deserted side street, ‘I think we’re safe now.’

‘Safe?’ Draco asked, incredulous. ‘Granger, we’re two blocks from the _safe house_ , down a side street, late at night. I wouldn’t say we were safe. I would, in fact, say that we were the antithesis of safe.’

‘Finished?’ she asked when he stopped talking.

Draco rolled his eyes.

‘Right,’ she said, grabbing his hand and _Apparating_ before he could comment.

 

They landed in an almost identical side street, except that here he could hear a loud thumping noise and see bright, multi-coloured lights shining on the main street. ‘Where have you taken me?’ he asked, raising his voice slightly above the beat.

‘You’ll see,’ she said, smiling mysteriously as she headed towards the light. When they were just about to step out into the open, she halted and turned on him.

‘What?’ he asked suspiciously.

‘You can’t go in there dressed like that,’ she commented. ‘Hold still.’

Before he could object, she was frowning in concentration, wand held high, and he could feel his robes shifting unnaturally. The feel of the material changed, the top half of his robes morphing into a green silk shirt, the bottom half twisting into a pair of black trousers that fit tightly against his skin.

‘Perfect,’ she commented, before turning her wand on herself. He gaped as her voluminous robes shrank into a gold silk top with no sleeves and very little material and a flirty knee length skirt of royal blue.

He was still recovering when she grabbed his hand again, dragging him towards the light and the beat with the air of a woman on a mission. A flirty smile got them past the bouncers and then they were in a large dark room with almost no furniture save for a bar at one end and a long raised area at the other end where the pulsing beat appeared to be coming from. Periodically the coloured lights he’d seen from outside swept across the room illuminating the throng of twisting, swaying, dancing bodies.

‘This is it!’ Hermione called, standing on her tiptoes to shout into his ear.

‘What’s it?’ he yelled incredulously.

‘DANCING!’ she yelled back. A new song began and Hermione grinned at him and disappeared onto the dance floor. Expression sceptical, Draco stood at the edge of floor, listening to the music, his foot twitching slightly as he caught the beat. By the time the chorus began, he could feel the rhythm pulsing through his blood and he strode into the throng after Granger’s tiny wriggling form.

_Dance! Nothing left for me to do but dance!_

_All these bad times I’m going through, just dance!_

_Got canned heat in my heels tonight, baby!_

She grinned at him when he found her, her eyes sparkling as she wiggled along with the music. As a rising crescendo announced the beginning of the chorus, she twirled around, her long hair fanning out around her like a halo. He smiled at the comparison and threw caution to the wind, catching her hand as she turned back to him and moving his body with hers.

_Dance! Nothing left for me to do but dance!_

_All these bad times I’m going through, just dance!_

_Got canned heat in my heels tonight, baby!_

They danced for hours, smiling and laughing as they moved together, war and Weasleys forgotten in the beat and the press of bodies on all sides. Finally, they staggered out into the night.

‘Better?’ Hermione gasped, grabbing onto his arm to steady herself.

‘Much,’ he said, still grinning down at her.

‘I knew it would be,’ she said smugly.

‘ _Now_ who’s arrogant,’ he asked, amused.

‘Confident is not the same as arrogant,’ she countered.

‘Remember that,’ he advised, cocking a finger at her authoritatively.

She laughed. ‘Time to go home,’ she said regretfully, turning into the side street next to the club.

‘For now,’ he qualified. As they transformed their clothes back into robes and _Apparated_ back to Grimmauld Place, Draco found himself hoping that Potter would pick a fight with him again soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics taken from Canned Heat by Jamiriquoi


End file.
